The Only Exception
by Shannon78
Summary: Weston wakes up in the hospital, recovering from potentially life altering injuries sustained from Carroll and his followers, and he struggles with his inability to protect Max while he recovers both physically and mentally. The reality that Carroll's story is far from over becomes very clear, very fast. [Maxton, Season 3]
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! This is my first Following fic. If you like what you read, please review! I do not write solely for reviews but I am also very critical of my own writing, so reviews to me are just the best affirmation that people are enjoying the story! So if you would like to read more, please drop a review on the way out! :)

This takes place in the third season. It can stand alone as a one shot without back story and you can just create your own, but if I take this farther (which I am planning on doing) then I'll be providing all of that later. For now, just take it and run with it!

. . . . .

There was pain, and there was panic. The former, in his current opinion, he would take over the latter any day. It hurt- it hurt to even open his eyes, but the feeling of rising panic that overcame him the second he was conscious was forcing him to. Because panic was something he had had enough of these days and he didn't know how much more of the feeling he could take.

The room he was in was bright and nauseating. His head was spinning, which made any thought he had cloudy. Even focusing his eyes proved to be a difficult task as the muscles in them screamed at any movement. His mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing, but nothing was clicking.

Max. She was the first thought his head could put together, and was the first thing he saw when he could finally focus his eyes. They slowly shifted from her to the needle in his arm, stemming from the IV drip above him. His mind was working so slow, and he had a desire to rip out the IV. He needed his head clear, he needed to protect Max- he needed to protect himself to protect her. Looking up at it, he didn't know if what was in the IV was clouding his thoughts, or if he had suffered some brain damaging injury. But he was sure as hell about to find out when he ripped this goddamn thing out-

"Mike, hey-" Max's voice caught his attention and he looked over to her again with bleary, blinking eyes. "Hey, It's just me." She moved slowly over to him on the bed, sensing his confusion.

"Hey..." He breathed out quietly. Words weren't coming to him easily either yet. His throat burned with the effort of talking and his voice didn't sound like his own.

"How do you feel?" She asked softly.

There was a pause as he willed his throat to work again. "Terrible." He finally said, quietly and truthfully. "Where am I? How'd...?"

"Mercy West. Hold on, let me grab your nurse. You need more pain meds...You shouldn't even be up now, really."

"No," He said as harshly and loudly as be could. This caught her eye and she turned around, meeting his eyes. "I don't want anything. Please."

"Well, that's too bad, I'm not going to let you sit there in pain."

He made a feeble and laughable attempt at moving his hand towards the IV in his arm, only to realize there were restraints on his wrists. He looked down, confused at the sight of them.

"Yeah, you've tried talking us out of the drugs a few times already."

"Wait..." he said slowly, his brain trying to connect pieces that weren't making sense. "I've been awake before?"

"Only for a few minutes at a time. I don't know what you think, but you _are _in a lot of pain, and they're saying your heart is stressed, and their monitoring one of your head injuries. It's better for you to be out right now, okay?"

"My heart? What? What exactly happened to me?"

Max stared at him for a second, considering the right answer to tell him.

"I don't think we need to talk about that right now."

Her tone was full of pain and Mike, even in his altered state, knew to shut up for the moment. A silence fell over them as he tried to piece together anything he could remember, but it was all fuzzy.

"I just want to be able to think again." He said finally. He pulled against the restraints, but had no energy to fight and realized how tired he really was.

"See?" She questioned softly. "You dont have the energy to even move, so just relax okay? Don't try and play the hero. You already did that."

"I'm not." His eyes drifted towards hers. "I just hate this." A long silence, then- "I can't protect you, and..."

"I know." She cut him off sharply. "But you don't need to protect me right now. No ones here to hurt you. Or me."

He was quiet for a few seconds, looking at the wall sternly.

"I don't think you understand," He said quietly after some time. "I dont know what happened to me, but obviously it was nothing good. I'm not going to be able to 'relax'. I'm not going to let what happened to me happen to you-"

"It's not."

He shook his head, and it sent pain through every part of his body. He cringed visibly, and Max again had had enough.

"That's it." She reached for the call button for the nurse.

"Max, please..."

"I'm sorry." He knew she was, but it didn't matter.

"I want this to be over." He said softly, looking up at the ceiling.

And for a moment she didn't know if she was talking about the Carroll ordeal, or his life.

The nurse walked in, ready to administer him more pain meds, and according to Max, something that would render him unconscious again. In the very back of his head he knew half his thoughts were probably him being delusional, but he couldn't help it. He panicked completely. Suddenly he didn't even know where he was again, he had lost all thought and reason. He _couldn't _be put back out again, he just couldn't. He had to be awake, he had to protect her.

"Max, please, please don't let them. He's going to find us, he's going to find you, he's going to-"

"Mike, it's fine, you're not thinking clearly, you need to calm down. I'll be right here-" She looked quickly towards the nurse, apologetically. "He's delusional, I'm sorry."

"I am _not_. Please don't let them do this to me. Please."

"I'm sorry, Mike."

Then there was nothing.

. . . .

The steady beep of his cardiac monitor brought him back. This time he knew better than to open his eyes. He laid there quietly for a while, attempting desperately to arrange his thoughts but not succeeding.

"I know you're awake." A soft voice rang out across the room. His eyes snapped open, the muscles in them once again protesting in pain.

"There you are," She said with a smile at him. He didn't return it and he didn't say anything. He felt almost betrayed, among other things. They couldn't keep him here drugged foreve- he was useless like this, and he hated it.

"How are you feeling?"

No answer. By the look on his face Max knew immediately, with relief, that he must remember the last time he had been awake. She could deal with an angry Weston, but not a potentially brain damaged Weston, and the fact that he finally remembered being awake was progress. This was what the doctors had been looking for the last few days. Still, she couldn't help feeling bad for him, because she knew she wouldn't like what they were doing either if she was in his spot.

"I'm so sorry." She said quietly as the smile disappeared and she reached a hand out to stroke his hair. He flinched away unconsciously at the sudden movement, causing a spasm of pain to shoot across his face again.

"I didn't mean to do that, sorry," He mumbled, almost embarrassed.

"No, it's okay...I should have gone slower." She paused and swallowed hard, not knowing how to approach him now. "Can I touch you?"

He nodded slowly, looking into her eyes now.

"This isn't all going to go away in a day, you know," She said softly as she put her hand on his cheek.

Silence. They sat like that for quite some time, with Max running her fingers through his hair softly, hoping it eased some of the pain in his head. It didn't, of course. At some point she reached for his hand, awkwardly running into the restraints that were still around his wrist.

"So. Uh, you remember being awake before?" She finally asked. Another nod, as he turned things over in his head slowly.

"Just the one time. I think. I don't know... " He shook his head. "Maybe if you stopped giving me all these meds I could remember things."

She decided to ignore the last comment.

"Well good," she said with a small smile. "It may not seem like it, but that is progress at least."

Mike looked around the room hesitantly. "Has Ryan been here at all?"

"Oh course...he hasn't left the hospital. But you always seem to wake up when he's getting food or something. He's grabbing me dinner right now."

He suddenly realized he had no idea what time it was, followed by the fact that he didn't even know what day it was.

"How long have I been out for?"

"4 and a half days." She said grimly, closing her eyes tightly.

Silence again. Surprisingly, he was the one to break it first this time.

"How have you been, Max? You okay?" He asked it very quietly, almost as if he was afraid to ask.

She seemed taken aback by the question, as if no one had voiced a concern about her well being in quite some time. "Um...fine. Worried about you..." She smiled a little inside, triumphantly. He was finally done being an ass. For now.

"Besides that."

"I mean. I'm alright. Wasn't the easiest past couple of days..." She trailed off, looking elsewhere than at him.

"I'm sorry." He looked toward the ceiling. "I really am." More silence, and then- "I would have have a better apology but I can't even put two thoughts together in my head, and-"

"Hey. Stop." She made his eyes meet hers before she continued. "You have nothing to be sorry for... What are you even apologizing for?" At first she assumed it was about his stubbornness with the meds, but she could tell it was turning into something bigger.

"For... getting involved with you. I know you don't want to be with someone who keeps putting their life in danger, so I understand if-"

"Mike, stop it."

"No. I'm sorry. But I can't promise you that this will be the the last time I'm hurt, or even almost killed, and-"

"You're up." Ryan had appeared suddenly, leaning casually against the door frame.

Mike looked at Max to let her know _this conversation is definitely not over _ and then slowly up at Ryan. The sight of Ryan brought him back to the reality of the situation more than anything. He wasn't safe, Ryan wasn't safe, and Max wasn't safe. No, this wasn't over- this was far, far from over.

But God, he wished more than anything it could be.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hi everyone and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all my awesome reviewers! I was very surprised this story got as much reaction as it did. Thank you to ladybugkd03, WonderSquint, SnappleSauce, lynn2424, WestonFollower, Lenika08 and my guest reviewers as well! You guys inspired me to write more, so thank you! Read on and (hopefully!) enjoy!

. . . .

"How're you feeling?" Ryan asked as he went to sit next to Max, delivering her a huge bag of Chinese food that they split open as soon as he sat down.

"Like a truck hit me." Weston mumbled quietly.

"Wouldn't expect any less kid."

"God, I was starving," Max said suddenly through a mouth full of Chinese. Weston couldn't help but smile as he looked over at her with a noodle hanging out of her mouth. She honestly was a mess from head to toe, her hair a complete disaster, yesterdays (or the day before thats) makeup running down her face and the biggest bags he had ever seen under anyone's eyes- but he still thought she was beautiful.

"What?" Max asked incredulously as she caught Westons grin.

"Nothing. Food looks good, is all," he said quickly, trying to cover up his bemusement at the sight of her.

"Oh. Are you hungry? You're probably starving." She looked over at Ryan. "Can he have Chinese? No? Of course you can't have Chinese, what am I thinking?"

"I'm fine," Mike said as he laughed at her, Ryan joining in. "I'm nauseous actually, so no, no Chinese.

"Probably all your pain meds."

"Yeah, well-"

"Don't start." She quipped back through another mouthful of noodles. "I never thought I'd meet anyone as stubborn as Ryan, but then you came along…" The two just rolled their eyes at her.

Max set down her food after scarfing it down and rubbed her eyes tiredly, yawning. It was obvious that she was exhausted.

"You should go home Max." Mike said softly.

"No, you just finally woke up! I've been dealing with comatose you for the last 4 days so it would be nice to actually sit with a live person for a few minutes."

"Oh, you'll have plenty of time to sit with me, it's not like I'm going anywhere fast. Go home." Mike knew this wasn't going to be an easy argument to win.

"Nope." Obviously Ryan and Mike weren't the only stubborn ones in the room.

"You're really going to fight me on this?" Mike asked tiredly.

"He's right Max." Ryan chimed in. "Go home and get some rest. You've been here way too long."

"_I've _been here too long? What about you? You've been here just as long as me!" Max said defensively at Ryan. She was right, of course, but Ryan wasn't going to budge.

"Max…" Mike didn't have the strength to argue with her. While he didn't necessarily want her to leave, he was exhausted and was craving a quiet room if only for a few moments. Max really looked as if she could benefit from some sleep anyways, and unless you were on as many drugs as he was he knew sleep wouldn't come easy in a hospital.

"Alright." Max said with a sigh, giving in. "I'm just going to go home and shower and change. But that's it."

"Well, that's something at least. Be careful, okay?" Mike said the last few words quite seriously but Max didn't seem to pick up on it as she was scrolling through her phone and grabbing her coat.

"Mhmmm." she said absentmindedly as reached for his hand on the way out.

"Hey." he said sharply, catching her off guard and getting her attention. "I mean it."

She smiled down at him. "I know. You're right. I will, don't worry."

"Well, we'll both worry. Send me a text when you get home." Ryan said, knowing this would ease Weston's mind at least a little, as well as his own. While the three of them had never discussed Max and Mike's relationship, or whatever the hell it was, Ryan had picked up on the subtle hints (or not so subtle hints as of lately) long ago that passed between the two that they were more than just co-workers or friends.

Ryan watched as Max left and spoke as soon as she was out of earshot. "Well, I know all you want to do is sit and stare at a wall, because I've been in your shoes many times. You want me to put something on TV? Give you a break from Max's badgering for a bit..."

"That'd be great. Thanks." Mike said sincerely, sighing inwardly with relief and closing his eyes. As much as he wanted to ask Ryan about everything that had happened, he didn't think he could handle talking about anything right now. And sleep sounded wonderful...

And then suddenly he wasn't in the hospital anymore. Suddenly, he was in a room with Carroll and...Roderick? Wasn't Roderick dead? Well fuck them, he didn't have much to lose, and he for sure wasn't going to give up Claire's location- that's what they wanted, right? But God, it did hurt more than anything he had even felt before. Death wouldn't be so bad. It would be alright. Enter Lily Gray and Max suddenly. Fuck, not Max. They were going to kill Max if he didn't give up Claire's location. Oh God, stop screaming Max, I'm sorry. That's not Max screaming, is i-?

"_Mike!"_ Mike's eyes shot open. There was no Carroll, or Roderick. Ryan was standing over him with a terrified look on his face, shaking him awake.

"Mike, hey kid, it's me. Mike. Max is fine. You're in the hospital, okay?" Mike just looked at Ryan unbelievingly. What had just happened?

"You alright?" Ryan questioned him again. Mike looked around, confused. He was in the hospital. There was no one here that was trying to hurt them- at the moment, at least. Had that really been a dream? If it was, then it had been one hell of a nightmare.

"I...What the hell just happened?" Mike asked Ryan, confused.

"Bad dream." Ryan said with a small shrug. "Probably drug induced, so it was more vivid. You were screaming that they were going to kill Max for most of it. Max is home, okay? She's fine. You're at Mercy West remember?"

"Yeah…I'm fine. I am. I just...it seemed real."

"I'm sure. Well, the doctors were trying to prevent you from having any of those. They want to keep your heart rate down, and that's definitely not going to help."

"Yeah, I can guess not…"

The two sat for a few moments in silence as Ryan let Weston get his thoughts together. Mike felt ten times more drained now then he had before he had fallen asleep now that the adrenaline was starting to leave him.

God, he hated this.

"Well," Ryan said cautiously. "I thought if you took your mind off things for a bit that might help, but obviously not. You wanna talk at all?"

Mike thought for a moment and then nodded his head. He did want to talk, but his head was still a jumbled mess of thoughts that didn't make sense.

"What's, um, the last thing you remember?" Ryan asked cautiously.

"I...I don't know. I remember up to when I was knocked out. Waking up…and all of them asking where Max was. They wanted to use us to get to you….and the only way they could do that was if they had both of us. And then everything really blurs together. I'm not saying I don't remember anything, I just don't know what happened when. I feel like I'm remembering things out of order."

There was silence for a moment. "And...this is going to make me sound crazy, but I keep seeing Roderick in there too for some reason- everything that happened when he was trying to get Claires location out of me? I keep remembering that too. And that's not right." He looked over at Ryan with questioning eyes. "Right?"

"Well…" Ryan said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "It's not surprising." He shrugged slightly. "This whole thing was similar to what happened with Roderick, and it's….common to be able to remember past experiences much more vividly if something similar to them is happening to you in the present. This time they were just trying to get Max's location out of you instead of Claire's. Very similar situation. So the two are probably just blurring together."

"As if I wasn't crazy enough." Mike said with a sigh. "When I would try and think about the Roderick thing before this though I couldn't remember the majority of it. It's always kind of bothered me, actually. Not that I was trying to think about it, but..."

"Could have been the concussion that you got back then. More than likely you were blocking it out, though."

"I...you think?"

"Dissociative amnesia. I'm sure your head was just fine, but you blocked the whole thing out. PTSD."

"I don't have PTSD." Mike retorted very defensively.

"Okay kid. Sure you don't….well, if you didn't before, then you sure do now."

They were both silent. Ryan watched intently at Weston as he stared straight ahead of him, obviously turning things over in his head. Ryan knew what his biggest concern was.

Well, here went nothing.

"You know, none of this is going to make her think any differently of you." Ryan said, out of the blue. It completely caught Mike off guard.

"Wh-what?" Mike stuttered out, looking over at Ryan now.

"I know how you feel, believe me, I do. I've been there. You feel like a damaged piece of shit, and you don't want to admit it, especially to her. "

"Who-Max?"

"No, your French Maid. Yes Mike, Max."

Mike knew this conversation had been coming- the _I know you want to have sex with my niece but if you do or if you hurt her I will kill you slowly- and you know coming from me that is not an empty threat _conversation. Weston had been meaning to bring it up- one day- but when you were constantly chasing a serial killer there never seemed to be a time when it didn't seem frivolous to be discussing his feelings for Max to her Uncle. Well, that was an excuse. But now he had no choice but to sit here and listen. He could honestly say he was less terrified when he was being beaten within an inch of his life.

"I know how you feel." Ryan continued. "If you admit your fucked up from all of this then you're admitting you're not good enough for them- for her. And, well, that's not true, especially with Max. None of this is going to make her think any differently of you. You can sit there and deny things like the PTSD all you want, but you're only hurting yourself in the end."

Ryan stopped for a moment, looking down at his hands and searching for words.

"What I'm trying to say is, Max is my niece- well, she's more then that now. With my brother dead that makes me more her father then Uncle. And no one- _no one_- will ever be good enough for her, and I'll probably never be happy with the man she settles for, because, well that's just part of being an Uncle or father figure, or whatever I am, but…If she _has _to end up with someone, I'm sure as hell glad it's you."

Ryan stopped for a moment, looking away and then cleared his throat. "But, you know, if you hurt Max I'll find you, and probably kill you. I will." The threat was accompanied by a grin, but it just made it seem more serious to Weston. But of course, relief spread over him at Ryan's words. The dreaded conversation was over, and he had actually survived, for now.

"Thank you," was all Weston could spit out. It felt like a lame response, but it was all he could get manage to get out. Ryan's words meant more than he could say, so he chose to not say anything at all. Though he did add- "And yes, if I hurt Max I give you permission to kick my own ass."

Ryan returned a laugh and Max walked in not a second later, looking much more showered but not any more rested.

"Well, you two seem to be having fun." Max said with a grin.

"Oh, of course. You know us."

Little did either of them know, Max had just overheard their entire conversation.

. . . .

Like, Love, Hate? Review either way and let me know! I felt this was slightly (maybe?) out of character esp compared to last chapter but I had a lot of feels and things I had to get out. So hopefully it wasn't too bad! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the continuing reviews! You guys are the best and are an inspiration to continue. For ladybugkd03, I'm trying to write it so they are in that stage between flirty friends and relationship- that awkward stage when you haven't "defined" that you are with each other but you _know _you are, just no one wants to ask.

Reviews = love, and I could use some after the day I've had. I work as a staff member at the humane society and I had the worst client I've ever dealt with in my life today who was giving up their animal (I deal with a 1000 douche canoes a day doing the same thing, but this one took the cake). Aaaand then when I got home, my cat peed in my toaster. What. Who even does that. WHAT.

Anyways, just leave a review. It would mean a bunch.

Anything in italics is a flashback!

. . . .

_It was nearing midnight on the day they finally arrested Carroll. They had all been sent to a budget hotel about 15 minutes from the bed and breakfast, and were told more times than they could count to prepare for an entire day of traveling and debriefing tomorrow. Mike looked up at the peeling ceiling of the hotel room and wondered if it was the extremely uncomfortable mattress or the multitude of thoughts keeping him awake. He knew which one it was but he kept trying to tell himself it was just the mattress combined with the pounding headache he had that was keeping him up. It wasn't. _

_He had a million thoughts running through his head. Carroll. How had Ryan not killed him- how in the fucking world did he not pull that trigger? Really, he was quite mad at Ryan. This could have all really been over, for good. He knew it wasn't right to wish death upon anyone, but he was way past the point of caring anymore. He was a morally fucked and broken human being, but what did that matter? He had killed Lily. She was completely defenseless, and he could have easily arrested her. Thank God Ryan and Max had covered his ass. _

_Max. He had kissed her, against his better judgement. Why on earth had he kissed her? He had been doing so well hiding his feelings (okay- maybe not- but he hadn't kissed her, until today. Idiot). She deserved _so _much better then him. Hadn't he just been thinking to himself how damaged he was? Yes, morally broken people who kill others for no reason do not do well in relationships. What had he been thinking?! Tomorrow he was going to just act like this had never happened. It was best for her, right? She didn't deserve to be involved with anyone as messed up as he was. _

_Mike suddenly heard his phone vibrating on the table next to him and reached over for it in a panic. Calls around midnight never lead to anything good, and even more so recently. _Was this ever going to end? _He squinted against the bright screen of his phone in the darkness and read the caller ID: Max. _

"_Hey, everything okay?" he said quickly, his panic rising. Even if she was just down the hall in another hotel room (hopefully, at least) he still had worst case scenarios running through his head. _

"_Hey Mike...Um, I'm sorry if I woke you up." _

_Mike relaxed slightly at the sound of her voice. Nothing was wrong, it seemed, and he felt a small smile creeping across his face at the fact that maybe she had just called to talk. Wait, no, he couldn't let himself lead her on more...she should be running far, far away from him. Right? _

"_No, no you didn't." He said. "I was trying to sleep, but- well, today was...you know. Plus my head is hurting like a real bitch so that's not helping….Are you alright?"_

"_Oh. Yeah. I- I'm sorry I bothered you." Her voice was shaking slightly. "I just wanted to see if you were okay- thought we lost you for a second today, you know? But I'll talk to you in the morning."_

"_Hey, Max, wait. Are you sure you're alright?" He could check to see if she alright. Right? _

"_I- Yeah. Of course. I'm sorry I called." No, he wasn't imagining her voice shaking. It definitely was. _

"_Don't be sorry. But… no, you're not okay. I can tell."_

_There was a long moment of silence. _

"_Okay. No. I'm not. You almost died like, nine times, and... And even if they arrested Carroll I don't feel safe here, or anywhere really. We don't know who's still out there. I'm...can you just come to my room?"_

"_Wh-what?" Shit. This wasn't supposed to be happening. He had to tell her no...right? _

"_I know what you're thinking," she continued, "but no, I'm not that easy- but I am that freaked out right now. Could you come here?"_

"_I...yeah. Yeah of course." Shit. How could he say no? "Though, you know if Ryan finds out he'll skin me alive."_

"_Oh, would you just come over here?"_

_He laughed a little at her impatience. "Of course. I'll be over in a second." Shit. There was no way in hell he could say no to her. _

_He found Max in her room, with every single possible light on, and her TV up to an unreasonable level especially at this hour. _

"_Thanks for coming over," she said as she closed the door behind him and deadbolted it. "I-there's beer in the fridge. It was stocked when I got here. You want one?"_

"_Can't say no to that." Mike shrugged, with a small grin at her. He sat down on the bed and took the beer that Max offered him._

"_So...you wanna talk, or...?" Mike finally asked her after a few sips of his drink, breaking the small silence that had come over them._

"_Not really." She said shortly staring into her beer. He smiled at her, remembering the night he had said the exact same thing to her. The night he _really_ realized he was falling for her. _

"_Okay," he said softly, mirroring her. "We'll just sit here." Max grinned knowingly and appreciatively at him. They finished their drinks in the comfortable silence that had come over them again._

"_I I just didn't want to be alone tonight." Max said quietly finally, looking down at her hands. "I don't care if that makes me sound weak-"_

"_Hey." Mike said softly, scooting closer to her on the bed. He could try as hard as he could, but he wanted Max- wanted to be near Max, wanted to be there for Max whenever she needed it- for his own selfish reasons. He had fallen for her, hard, and as much as he knew he wasn't good for her he knew deep down that he cared just as much about himself being bad for Max as he did about killing Lily. Which was not at reached over and cupped her chin, bringing her eyes up to his. She looked at him for a moment, then-_

"_Mike I killed someone today." It came out of her as if she couldn't stop herself from saying it even if she was trying. He didn't say anything immediately, he just looked at her as she searched his face for a reply. _

"_Yes, you did." He said finally._

"_And I really thought you were dead." _

"_And I would have been dead if you hadn't of killed Luke." He shifted so that he was even closer to her. "This wasn't me killing Lily when she was basically defenseless. You saved my life. I would be dead right now instead of sitting here with you."_

"_I know. I'm just freaked out, I'm sorry." She ran her hands over her face and through her hair. "I keep thinking his reincarnation is going to pop out of my drain or something and kill me." She rolled her eyes at that and smiled lightly at him but she could tell she was only half kidding. _

"_Yeah, I've had those nights too." He reached down and took her hand, and then looked down as he ran circles over it with his thumb. "But you don't have to be sorry." They sat just like that for a few more minutes, enjoying each others company and the comfortable silence between them._

"_Well, it's almost 1:30." Mike said finally, looking at clock. "You know we have to be up early, so…"_

"_I know. You wanna try and get some sleep?"_

"_I think we should." He leaned in closer to her and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her again. Instead all she got was- "Although, I think we're going to have to leave every damn light on in the hotel tonight in case Luke comes out of the drain." _

_She laughed and smacked him lightly on his chest, pushing him away a little while he grinned back at her. "Oh shut up." she said through her laugh. "You're such an ass." _

"_You like it, admit it." He leaned in again to her and kissed her gently, pushing her back against the bed. She unconsciously let out a small moan, which just made him press her a little harder into the bed and deepen their kiss. After the stress of the past few weeks (hell, the past year) it didn't take much to make him want more and to get him to the point where he couldn't stop himself- but he didn't want to be _that _guy. He broke away from their kiss and laid down next to her, propping himself up with elbow. She looked over at him with a pout but all he did was reach out and run a hand through her hair and down her cheek. _

"_You think you'll be able to sleep now?" he asked her softly. _

_She bit her lip and looked up at him. "Well now that you've gotten me all worked up I don't know about that. There's one way to fix that, you know…" she said with a mischievous look in her eye. As much as he wanted to, he knew what she was doing. She was coping with the day through this, and he wasn't going to use her or take advantage when she was this vulnerable (although she would never admit that she was). He was going to be the good guy, for once, because God only knew how many things he had done today that he was already going to hell for. _

"_Yep, and that's by going to sleep." She rolled her eyes at him. He laughed, kissing her on the forehead and laying down while pulling her closer so she was cuddled up next to him. For the first time in a while Max felt completely safe, but Mike could still tell how tense she was from the stress of the day. _

"_Please get some sleep tonight Max," he whispered, continuing to run his fingers in her hair. "I'm right here, okay? I promise I'm not going to let anyone ever hurt you again. This will be over soon."_

_Max smiled up at him, her head on his chest. "Now if you could just promise me that you weren't going to let anyone hurt _you_ again then maybe I could relax a little."_

"_Hey don't worry about me." He pulled her as close as he could to himself. "But if it makes you feel any better, Ryan insists the Universe owes us, so I have a feeling trouble won't be finding me too much either. _I Promise._" _

. . . .

At some point Mike had fallen asleep again into a drug induced slumber. When he woke, Max was staring at him with a look of great concern.

"What?" he asked, confused and a little dazed from sleep.

"I think you were having a bad dream again." She scooted her chair over so that she was sitting right next to him and brought her hand up to his face. It was just him and Max in the room. He had no idea how long he had been out for, or what day it was even, but it was dark out. "You okay?" she asked gently, trying to allow him to get his bearings straight.

"Yeah, of course." Lie. "If I was dreaming, I don't remember it." Lie. "I'm fine, Max." Lie.

"Alright...I feel like you don't sleep, ever. You look exhausted."

"Well, obviously I sleep. I just slept for four damn days, isn't that enough for you?"

"Don't be a smartass." she smiled at him. "You know, you aren't the only one with bad dreams. I don't sleep well when I know you're here."

"Believe me, I wish I wasn't here either. Rather be next to you." He grinned at her, but she noticed it didn't go to his eyes, which were full of something she couldn't place. Fear? Pain? Something, probably all of the above.

She bit her lip. "I miss you, Mike."

"I miss you too." He whispered. "Please tell me they're releasing me soon?"

"Um, considering you still have those restraints on your arms, I doubt any time soon."

"Yeah, about those, can these come off soon? I've been good, you know. Although when we go home you can restrain me _all_ you want." Once again, he waited for her retaliation.

"Mike-I-you. Shut up. We are in a hospital. Obnoxious." she muttered, slightly blushing.

"Oh come on, you knew that was coming." he said with a laugh, but she still looked like she was going to hit him.

"Okay, okay, I promise not to talk about my secret desire for you to handcuff-"

"Michael! Please! Would you stop? For the love God, Ryans probably right around the corner."

"Alright! I'm sorry." He was not sorry, not one bit.

He knew he wasn't good for Max, but he didn't care. After all, the Universe owed him this one.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Thank you all for your continued reviews! It means so, so much! Keep them coming, they inspire me to write faster and make time in my day for it- which I need to more often, as writing is certainly therapy away from life. Once again, thanks everyone and drop a review on the way out- what do _you _want to see in this story? Throw me some ideas!

Also, I sat down and tried to figure out a timeline for how long season 2 takes place over, but I really have absolutely no idea at all. The second part of this is supposed to be set after the finale but only a month after Mikes dad is killed. I know this may not fit the timeline of the season, but I really had no clue, so just go with it.

As before, anything in italics is a flashback.

. . . .

"How's your pain level today, Mr. Weston?"

"It's fine." Mike said with a small huff. He was done being trapped in this hospital and even more so being treated like something fragile that was going to break at any moment. He didn't want to say anything, but his pain _had_ been significantly worsetoday compared to the last few days, and therefore he had been nothing short of an ass all day. He could tell by the continued look on annoyance on Max's face that she was done dealing with him today.

"I need a number…"

"Negative 5. Can I go home?" The nurse just raised her eyebrows at him. Mike shrugged and finally gave in.

"3." Which was a lie. 15 would have been more appropriate. "Sorry." He knew he was being difficult, but he couldn't help it.

"You're fine, Mr. Weston. I'll let the doctor know how you're doing," the nurse said curtly and walked out.

Max looked over at him with a glare as the nurse left. "You're making this harder, you know. If you're an ass and don't cooperate they're probably just going to keep you in here longer."

"False. They probably will want to get me out sooner then. That's my plan anyways…."

Max wasn't in the mood to entertain him today and just continued to glare at him.

"Okay, I'm sorry." He sighed. "I just don't want to be here any more."

"Ohh, we know Mike, you've made that clear." She smiled slightly at him, lightening up a little. He _was _being a jerk, but she couldn't really blame him too much.

"So, I know they have _sort of _debriefed you," Max said, standing up and scooting her chair closer to his bed, "But Parsons and a few others are coming today to talk to you. Ryan said they were going to be pretty thorough."

"Great. Just what I needed to make my day _even better_. Although I would like to know exactly what they think happened to me, since I basically have no recollection of it. Plus no one will even tell me what's really wrong with me."

"Well… there is one good thing about it- they told the doctors to lower your pain meds significantly so you have a clearer head so _can _begin to remember what happened. You notice a change?"

"No, not really." He really was a terrible liar when it came to her.

"Bullshit. I know that's why you've been shitty with me all day. You're in pain."

"I-"

"Michael."

"Alright." He sighed again. There was no winning with her. "Yeah I've noticed it. But I feel like I can think straight for once though...sort of. I honestly don't know anymore."

"The pain that bad? I can-"

"No, no it's fine."

They settled into a comfortable silence and Max focused her attention on the only thing on TV which, to their dismay, ended up being the Miley Cyrus movie.

"So…" Mike said quietly after he couldn't take much more of the movie, "Now that my head is clear, can we please just talk about…well, what I was trying to talk to you about before?"

"And what exactly would that be?" Max knew exactly what it was, but she was tired of entertaining the idea.

"The fact that you deserve better than this. Obviously I'm some kind of weird magnet for Joe Carroll torture and I've spent half the time I've known you in the back of ambulances getting philosophical talks from Ryan about life or in a hospital bed…" He could tell she was already annoyed with him before and knew any serious conversation was probably going to make it worse, but he really needed to talk to about this. He figured he'd lighten the mood- "I bet that bread guy who you were with before me is lookin' pretty good right about now…" he cracked a smile.

"Oh yeah," she rolled her eyes, but smirked at him. "I would definitely choose bread guy over the man who was beaten within an inch of his life just so a crazy serial killer couldn't find me."

"That's just it though… I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything. I'm damaged, Max, and I don't want to bring you down with me just because you feel like you owe me for-"

"Mike, shut up, you know that's not true," she snapped. "I had feelings for you a long time ago."

"Oh, did you now?" He grinned at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't push it, or those feelings are gonna go away real fast."

"Alright. I know we've had this conversation before- a lot- but-"

"Exactly. We have had this conversation before, and we _always _end up going around and around and around. If you're so determined for us to not work out, then…"

"You know that's not it Max, that's unfair." He looked down, away from her. "I just don't want to hurt you."

"And you never would." She said firmly.

"I almost have already."

Their eyes met as they looked over at each other, and their thoughts both drifted back simultaneously to the same day.

. . . .

_Max tapped her nails on the kitchen counter nervously, staring over at her phone. A bottle of wine sat next to her but it didn't do much to calm her nerves. _

_It had only been a few days since Carroll was arrested but it felt like an eternity to her. Today was exactly a month since Lily had killed Mike's father. Of course, Mike hadn't said a word about it all day but he had been pretty persistent about coming over tonight. At first she had assumed he might have wanted to talk things over or just be with her, but as the day went on his texts got increasingly…forward. She had expected that he would want to come over and see her tonight, especially given the day, but not this. She heard a knock, and nervously walked over. _

_Mikes hands were on her before she even closed the door. He took her face in his hands and backed her against bar in the kitchen. _

"_What's gotten into you?" Max said with a nervous laugh. Not that she didn't _like _what Mike was doing, but being this forceful was very uncharacteristic of him- and she knew why he wasn't acting like himself. It was obvious he was using this as a distraction from thinking about anything else today. _

"_Nothing at all," he said with a smile. "Can't I just be happy to see you?" He kissed her roughly and ran his hands down her, but not in a way that she really liked. "I've been thinking about you all day. Couldn't really concentrate at work…"_

"_Well, of course you can be happy to see me. But…" _

"_What?" he asked distractedly, kissing her neck and pushing her against the door, a little more forcefully then she would have liked. _

"_Mike...hey." She took her hand and grabbed his chin roughly, making him look her in the eye. "Hey. I think we both know what today is and I know why you're acting like this. You can't ignore this forever. It's been a month, today, and I know that every time that date comes around its hard, but…"_

_He swallowed hard and looked away. "Uh. Well... " He looked around nervously. "I didn't know what day it was, actually. But thanks for pointing that out."_

"_Oh bullshit- you '__didn't know'__. You've been trying to get your mind off this all day. You can't just distract yourself away from the fact that your dad died, you've barely talked about it because you really weren't given the chance with everything that happened right after. Can you just talk to me?"_

"_Okay Max." his tone had gone from zero to extremely irritated in about two seconds. "What do you wanna talk about?" He threw his hands up in anger and glared at her. _

"_Don't get pissy. You obviously know what I want to talk about."_

"_Well, I'm just irritated with you always trying to push me. What is there to talk about? He's dead, my fault, end of story." _

"_It's not your fault Mike."_

"_Sure it's not Max. Whatever you say." He started to turn away from her._

"_Mike, I understand what you're going through, I just want to help you. Can you just talk to me?" _

_And just like that, he snapped. _

"You understand?!_ No, actually, sorry Max, but you _don't._ You don't get it Max. No one does, and no one can, and I don't know why you can't understand that!"_

"What_can't I understand Mike?! I lost my father just like you lost y-"_

"_No, no you didn't Max! It is far from the same thing! I just want you to shut up about it! You'd think me seeing it again and again would be enough, and now you want to TALK about it?!" He was screaming at her now, and had her backed against the wall. Like every other time he got mad, the anger took over, and there was not a clear thought in his head. _

"_Yes, Mike, I do." She was not going to back down. _

"_Well you can go to hell, because my dad's murder is _NOT_-" he took his fist and slammed it into the wall next to her- "something I'm ever going to talk to _you_about. Because, no you _don't _understand."_

_Max felt angry- and scared- tears well up in her eyes. She had seen him turn on people, seen his anger take over him, but she of course had never been a target of that anger. She was terrified, because the man looking at her was not Mike. She knew she had to calm him down before he did something he would regret. _

_"Mike, I'm sorry." She was rambling now, trying to think of something to say to him but coming up with nothing. "But yes, my dad died too, and so I know you don't think I understand, but-"_

"_Oh yeah? Did you see your dad die? Do you have a video of him being murdered playing over and over and over again in your head? No, _YOU DON'T_." He punched the wall next to her again and she flinched away from him hard, feeling the tears finally betray her and fall down her cheeks. "Every time I close my eyes, it's there! I see it, over and over again. And I'm sorry, but just because you lost your father doesn't mean you actually saw it happen and had to re-live it over and over-"_

"Oh. Okay._ You're going to play it like _that_?" Max had now had enough. She wiped away the tear that was falling down her cheek and straightened herself up against the wall. _

_"That's going to be your fucking excuse Mike? So, you think you're the only person who has seen their dad die, who has a video of it in their head on repeat? My dad died on 9/11, a fact that I __know__ you are well aware of. You think every time I fucking turned on a TV or walked down the street and saw a newspaper or went ANYWHERE FOR YEARS I didn't see a video of my dad dying OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN?" At this, she realized she was screaming at him, and had to stop herself, before she made him madder. But Mike just looked at her, his mouth hanging open, completely speechless and with a horrified look on his face. Secretly, she felt triumphant with the satisfaction of being right. As woman almost always are, of course. She took a deep breath._

"_My father was murdered, same as yours. I know you've been through a lot, but that doesn't give you the excuse to push people away because you think you are so different than them. Yes, I know that you __literally__ saw your dad die and that's slightly different than mine...but I'm just trying to help. But if you don't want my help... then I'm kind of done."_

_She didn't expect an immediate reaction, which was good because she didn't get one. He just stood there, continuing to stare at her with his mouth slightly open. After a few moments he __silently put both hands on the sides of her face and pressed his forehead to hers. She felt the warmth of the blood coming from his knuckles streaming down her face, and swallowed hard. _

_"I…" Silence. "I don't even know what to say Max. I'm an ass. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I've honestly never felt like such an idiot or been more mortified in my life. If I could literally go back and put my shoe in my mouth I-" _

"_I know." she interrupted him and put a finger on his lips. "You were totally an ass. And while I'm glad I put you in your place I'm also glad you finally showed at least __some __emotion over it. It's kind of a relief." _

"_So...you want me to start screaming at you and almost hitting you more often...I don't th-"_

"_Oh don't be an idiot, you know what I mean." She rolled her eyes at him. "I want you to talk about it, and show me that you care about it, that you're actually making an effort to work through it and not just put it aside. I just needed you to recognize that it's there."_

"_Oh. I know it's there. It's there every day, every night, every time I close my eyes. Believe me." He touched his forehead to hers again and grabbed both her hands in his. "I'm sorry Max."_

_He let go of her suddenly and walked away, turning away from her and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. _

"_You know Max, you make me feel normal. You bring out the person I used to be before this whole thing. But then something like this happens and I realize I'm not normal- I'm not who I was before and I could have actually hurt you today-"_

"_You wouldn't of."_

"_You don't know that Max." he looked towards her again. "You have no idea what I could do to you, or someone else, and I don't either, to be honest with you." He took a step towards her. "I just don't think this is a good idea anymore."_

. . . . .

That day it had taken Max a grand total of over 3 and a half hours to explain to Mike why this _was _still a good idea. The more Mike brought it up to her, however, the more she wondered if he wasn't right. Were the two of them just like Claire and Ryan? Was _she _not good for Mike? At the end of the day she couldn't help but wonder if Mike would be able to move on if she was still a part of his life. Up until now she had felt some small resentment for Claire doing what she did to Ryan that day- but now? Now she felt as if she understood completely.


End file.
